Pokehammer 40K
by Rayquaza42
Summary: Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promises of progress and understanding, because in the grim, dark future of the Pokemon World, there is only battling.
1. Prologue: The Distortion Heresy

**Right, first thing I want to get out of the way: I'm not what you'd call a massive Warhammer fan. I'd heard about it for years, but only recently started looking at the lore and everything, so please forgive me if I get some details wrong. I am, on the other hand, a huge Pokemon fan.**

 **So, this idea started from me, looking at Warhammer, discovered that Marines were customisable, which led me to the Bolter and Chainsword Marine Painter. This, coupled with my being a Pokemon fan, led to me designing Arceus-based Marine armour. This in turn led to a project in creating a Marine Chapter/Chaos Warband for every single legendary Pokemon. Then to this.**

 **Oh yeah, it's gonna be lighter than regular 40K. At the very least, the vast majority of characters-yes, even Orks-treat their Pokemon well (though in the Ork's case it's more a mutual respect for a creature that loves battling just as much as the Orks). It is, however, going to be darker than regular Pokemon, owing to, you know, death. You have been warned.**

 **I don't own either Warhammer or Pokemon, just in case you thought I did.**

The Ultra Wormhole opened and vomited three figures into the Distortion World. Three heavily armoured figures. The first stood up, brushing some dust off his chest-plate.

"Well, looks like we made it" he muttered, his voice deepened by his helmet. He reached down and picked up his Cerulean-pattern bolt gun, known colloquially among his troops as a 'bolter'. "You two all right?"

The second figure pulled himself up. "Yes. Fine."

The third figure pulled himself to his feet. This one was clad in a suit of Tactical Dreadnought 'Terminator' armour, and equipped with two main weapons, a Cerulean-pattern bolt pistol and a chainsword. And, of course, his Pokemon team.

Speaking of which, he quickly checked his Pokeballs. They were all there, thank Arceus. He selected the one containing his partner and tossed it lightly to the ground. The other two followed suit, a huge, lumbering Torterra and a relatively small, energetic Infernape appearing next to Empoleon.

"Well" said Arkias, Lord Champion of the Hands of Arceus legion of the Adeptus Astartes, "We're here. Now we need everyone else."

Yveral, Lord Champion of the Arceus's Children legion and the first of the three who had stood up, hit a button on the side of his gauntlet, signalling the rest of his forces while Torterra bellowed in agreement. Arkias and Orkais, Lord Champion of the Blades of Judgement, did the same. Wormhole after wormhole opened, dispensing hundreds, thousands of soldiers.

 _Three thousand_ thought Arkias. Three thousand Astartes warriors, each with at least one partner Pokemon. It was said that one marine and his Pokemon could take a planet. Three thousand, every marine in existence, was frankly overkill.

But it was necessary. After all, they had just dropped into the _Distortion World_ of all places. Evil lurked here, demonic beings of Chaos that Arceus Himself had given them the holy duty of wiping out. For too long, the demons had struck at Imperial worlds, killing all they could find. No more. All three of Arceus's Holy Legions were going in to… _sterilize the wound_ , so to speak.

Arkias frowned, casting an eye over his warriors. That couldn't be a thousand, could it?

Yveral had clearly noticed as well. "Captain!" he yelled at the nearest of his marines. The marine, Captain Ignis of the Arceus's Children Second Company, hurried over, his Flareon at his heels.

"My lord Champion" he muttered, bowing to Yveral. "We've experienced some… _troubles_ in Ultra Space. It seems not all of our marines made it."

Yveral scowled, not that you could tell underneath the helmet. "It matters little. Our mission remains the same. We'll account for our losses later. Get whatever's left of your companies together and move!"

Ignis snapped a salute and headed off to marshal Second Company. Yveral nodded and turned back to his fellow Lord Champions. "We head out, hunt Giratina, and kill him. Once victory's ours, we meet back here, alright?"

"Right!" the other two said in unison, and hurried off.

Yveral squeezed his bolter's trigger, unleashing a hail of explosive rounds. They slammed into the Claydol and detonated. The ground/psychic type practically ignored the heavy fire, lifting a stubby 'arm' and firing a beam of psychic energy at one of Yveral's Tactical Marines. The soldier took the blast full to the chest, melting his armour and sending him plummeting over the edge of one of the small 'islands' that made up the Distortion World.

Yveral growled, brought up his arm and pointed at the Claydol. Torterra didn't need any more than that, already unleashing a Frenzy Plant attack that slammed into the Claydol, sending it spiralling away.

The marine who'd been sent over the edge suddenly came back up, screaming, actually falling upward. Ignis reacted with a speed only an Astartes could, grabbing his battle-brother and hauling him back to safety.

Even the _gravity_ didn't obey normal laws here. This place truly was an abomination.

More Pokemon were appearing, this time with human soldiers alongside them, firing blasts from lasguns. Imperial soldiers? Here? Fighting for Giratina?

Yveral shrugged and snapped another order. Torterra roared, unleashing an Earthquake. With the few surviving Guardsmen knocked off their feet, it was easy for the Astartes marines to kill them, leaving just the few Pokemon immune to ground attacks, which happened to mostly be more Claydols, with a few Sigilyphs and a Honchkrow or two.

One of the Sigilyph's eyes flashed, and a marine howled, psychic energy coursing over the soldier and crushing him. Another one loosed his Jolteon at the target, while Ignis drew his plasma pistol, brought it up and fired bolts of superhot energy at one of the Claydols. Six rounds and it finally collapsed.

The Jolteon screeched as a blast of mud from one of the Claydols slammed into it, throwing it several metres and leaving it prone on the ground. The trainer started towards the Jolteon, only for a Hyper Beam to hit him full in the back, severing the warrior's legs from his torso.

Ignis aimed the smoking pistol at the Claydol, when his head was suddenly wrenched back by an unseen force. The marine was still dropping to the floor as Yveral aimed and shot the full thirty rounds in his bolter at the Sigilpyh, dropping it to the floor. The other marines and their Pokemon quickly took down the remaining Chaos forces, but at the cost of several troopers.

"Regroup!" barked Yveral. "Regroup and ignore our casualties. Once we've completed the…" he trailed off, staring up at the huge Pokemon who'd just materialized in front of him.

 **Yveral** rumbled Giratina. **Lord Champion of Arceus's Children. Not a true warrior. A tool for Arceus. An instrument of his will.**

Yveral's marines swept up their bolters, but before a single one of them could fire, they had been impaled on Giratina's tentacles. Six marines were dead in less time than it took to blink, their Pokeballs opening automatically as a fail-safe. Their Pokemon, seeing the deaths of their trainers, growled at Giratina. The great God of Antimatter ignored them, focussing on Yveral with his eyes glowing.

 **Tell me, Yveral. Have you ever wanted to be something more? Not just a puppet for that so-called God?**

Yveral frowned. Maybe Giratina had- no. He was a marine of Arceus! A member of the Adeptus Astartes and a loyal soldier of the Imperium!

And what had the Imperium ever done for him?

They'd sent him into battle again and again. He'd lost soldiers, he'd lost members of his Pokemon team. And what had they done? They'd just sent him out yet another time. Giratina's glowing eyes promised… personal glory. Fortune. Recognition.

The other marines were already laying down their weapons, looking at each other in confusion. Yveral's Astartes conditioning screamed at him to stay loyal to Arceus, but Giratina's hypnotic, seductive gaze was stronger. The bolter clattered to the floor. Torterra glanced at his master in confusion.

"Members of the Arceus's Children" he said in a low voice, but thanks to his communicator it was relayed to every surviving member of his legion. "We now serve Giratina."

 **Yes, the name's going to have to go, you know. I now rename you as Giratina's Shadows.**

"For Giratina" said Yveral, and the others took up the chant. "FOR GIRATINA!"

 **Good. Now, it's time for you to eliminate the other Astartes. Kill your former allies. Prove your loyalty.**

"My lord" Yveral bowed, then stood up, turned to his troops, and barked the order. The marines moved out. Torterra was still confused, but obeyed his master.

And the marines surged towards the locations of their allies.

Captain Orationis, Blades of Judgement Fourth Company, slumped to the floor. His second-in-command, Sergeant Iudices, shimmered, his armour disappearing to reveal a Zoroark. Orkais spun around, pointing his bolt pistol at Sergeant Supplicium, who had crept up behind him, and fired. The Sergeant dropped, his illusion vanishing.

Orkais frowned as Infernape dispatched the Zoroark who had impersonated Iudices. How many other members of his legion had been replaced by illusionary infiltrators? It didn't do to dwell on the fate of those impersonated, of course. Glancing at the Pokemon's bloodied claws, Orkais could tell.

"You good, buddy?" he asked. Orkais had always been more informal than his fellow Lord Champions, at least around his Pokemon. Infernape nodded, grinning. Orkais cast an eye over his troops. "Alright, everyone split up! I don't want a single marine within five feet of another!"

The Astartes eyed each other nervously as they separated. This was another favourite trick of the Chaos forces. Zoroark infiltrators could tear straight through Astartes armour and their illusions were near-perfect. Orkais was seriously tempted to start stabbing his own men with a combat knife just to be sure.

Orkais felt a sudden foreboding. He turned to face a Pokemon who had rose up behind him. Almost entirely black, with a white plume of hair and jagged red teeth. Darkrai. The Lord of Nightmares and second only to Giratina as a Chaos God. A very high value target. Orkais swept up his bolter and fired as Infernape unleashed a Blast Burn.

Darkrai casually lifted a hand, summoning a Protect to absorb the blasts. The other marines, still concentrating on each other, were distracted for that one, crucial moment. Darkrai lifted his hand again and shot dark orbs, each catching a marine or Pokemon and knocking them unconscious in an instant, including Orkais and Infernape.

Darkrai chuckled. His nightmares weren't as quick or efficient as Giratina's hypnosis-based methods, but they were certainly low-maintenance. He didn't need to do anything else now. Each warrior's mind was being destroyed from within by their own terror, and when they woke up, all would be loyal Chaos soldiers. His mission, his part of the plan, was complete. So was his master's. Only thing left was to corrupt or destroy the final legion, and get rid of these irritating supersoldier trainers forever. Then the Distortion World forces would move on Arceus.

Arkias called for a retreat. It was clearly a necessity now, with so many of his legion lying dead and contact being lost with his fellow Lord Champions. The warriors of the Hands of Arceus disengaged from a hundred battles and, as one, started to head back to the staging area, firing bolters and ordering Pokemon as they went.

 _Come on… come on…_

Where were the other two, anyway? Arkias frowned, then spotted a hulking figure in armour approaching. Yveral.

His Terminator armour was the only reason he survived the first blow from Yveral's chainsword. The suit took the chugging blade directly to the chest, carving a scratch through the paint, but the toughened armour was enough to absorb the majority of the impact.

Arkias drew his own chainsword, not understanding, but realizing a threat when he saw it. He brought the blade up, parrying Yveral's second attack, and snapping an order to Empoleon. The penguin dutifully fired an Ice Beam attack at Torterra, freezing the great turtle solid.

The two Lord Champions duelled as the newly-christened Giratina's Shadows descended on the Hands of Arceus (which admittedly wasn't too hard due to the odd dimensions in the Distortion World).

Another order from Arkias and Empoleon took over the duel. A single swing of his razor-sharp wings cut Yveral's chainsword in half, sending the sparking weapon clattering to the floor. Yveral responded by drawing his bolt pistol and shooting Empoleon in chest. The penguin staggered back. Arkias pulled out his Pokeball and recalled his partner. Yveral unleashed his Absol. The panther of disaster leapt forward as the Ultra Space portal opened.

"Lord Champion! We've got to go!" roared an Assault Marine, his last action before a Houndoom melted the front of his chest in a blast of fire.

Arkias knew the soldier was right. One full legion lost, one apparently fallen to Chaos, and one still staggering under heavy losses. The mission was screwed. Arkias fired his bolt pistol in the general direction of Absol as he retreated into the portal. One of the first in, and the last to leave.

"Halt" Yveral rumbled to his forces. "Let them go."

Giratina's plan was near-perfect, but it hadn't accounted for a couple of other things. The first thing was the creation of many new Chapters of Astartes to serve Arceus, each worshipping a particular member of the Pokemon Pantheon. The second thing was the existence of other alien races like the Orks, Tyranids, Eldar and Necrons giving both sides serious trouble.

And that is how what was going to be a quick operation turned into a ten-thousand-year war.

 **This isn't going to be a continuous story, not really. More like a bunch of one-shots set in the same universe. So expect updates to be sporadic.**

 **The Hands of Arceus were a lucky coincidence. According to the Pokedex, Arceus had a thousand arms, presumably with a thousand hands, with which he shaped the universe. There are a thousand Space Marines in a Chapter, so symbolism! Yay!**

 **The Blades of Judgement, after the event, were renamed the Nightmare Guard. My original name for them was the Nightmare Lords, but I then realized that it sounded too close to the Night Lords. Arceus's Children, on the other hand, I admit were named after the Emperor's Children, but I decided to give them a pass because they weren't keeping the name long.**

 **Just to clear up any confusion, this is a parallel universe. Arceus is the closest analogue to the Emperor in this universe, with Giratina being... Khorne, I guess?**

 **So, this chapter has been somewhat edited, to replace the Pokemon character Primarchs with Lord Champions, the equivalent of a Chapter Master. This change was because I was contacted by a couple of very helpful people on who are more experienced with 40K than me. So shout-out to Maxattack890 and Lolface390, thanks for the help.**


	2. First Crusaders: The Sacking of Rendor 7

**Slight warning here, this one's gonna be a bit violent. Still don't own Pokemon or Warhammer, by the way.**

"Welcome to Seventh Squad, marine."

First Crusaders Assault Marine Mentis grinned. After serving years as a Devestator, a long-range heavy weapons operative, he'd finally been promoted to an Assault. He snapped a quick salute to Seventh Squad's Brother-Sergeant as he took a seat at their table.

"I'm Brother-Sergeant Novus" said the officer by way of greeting. He pulled out a Pokeball and tossed it lightly to the deck. "And this is Xatu."

The psychic bird squawked. As the First Crusaders were the devoted Chapter of Mew, they tended to use psychic Pokemon and, indeed, almost all of their Scout Marines took a psychic type as their starter. That or an Eevee, which they would evolve into an Espeon. As was the case with Mentis himself, as a matter of fact.

"Anyway" continued Novus. "I've heard about your actions on Aquilla. You've done an impressive job as a Devestator, now it's time for the next part of your training."

Aquilla was one of the more interesting assignments for Third Company. An Ork attack on a Hive World wasn't one of the best things to happen in the galaxy, what with the large number of civilians to butcher. Third, Fourth and Fifth had been sent in to put them down. In doing so, Mentis had personally killed a good number of Orks. It certainly helped that the greenskins relied on fighting type Pokemon, which the psychic types of the Crusaders countered.

"One of my squad was promoted after that battle" added Novus "So I've been short an Astartes. I hope you can fill those boots. This will be considerably different from what you've known so far."

"Looking forward to it, sir, if I may say" Mentis replied eagerly. Novus chuckled. "Many do. We exist to kill. To be an instrument of war for Mew, and by extension Arceus. Yet we spend the first few decades far from the front lines. Just about every Assault Marine I've met has been eager to-"

"Attention!" roared Third Company's Chaplain, marching into the room with the Company Champion and Brother-Captain behind him.

The Astartes all looked up at their superiors. Novus glanced at Mentis. "Looks like you've got a chance coming up already."

Brother-Captain Procidat addressed his company. "Ok, Astartes, we have a situation."

He pressed a button on the holotable he stood next to, and a picture of a planet appeared. "This is Rendor VII, a Hive World of the Imperium, and it's been attacked."

"Do we know who by?" called out a voice from the assembled crowd.

"Not… exactly" Procidat admitted. "This is what we got from the leader of the Guard regiment stationed planetside." He pressed another button.

"Come in, any Imperium ships in the area!" a voice screamed from the radio. "We're under attack by-" an explosion sounded, drowning out the soldier's words momentarily, "-unidentifed hostiles-" a burst of static, "-psychic-type Pokemon-" more static, "-Arceus help-" a rather unpleasant snapping sound. The radio cut off.

"Psychic types" repeated Procidat. "So probably not the Necrons, Orks, Tyranids or Dark Eldar. Craftworlders, perhaps."

"What was the Guard regiment?" asked someone else.

"Rendor VII was defended by the 15th Crobat Lasguns" answered Company Champion Saepem, speaking for the first time. "Their poison types wouldn't have stood a chance."

Murmurs of assent.

"Anyway" continued Procidat. "We took less casualties on Aquilla than either of the other two companies, and no one else can be spared, so the job falls to us."

This was greeted by cheers from the gathered Astartes.

"Alright, report to the Talonflames, and we'll see each other on the ground!" finished Procidat, and left the room with the other two officers.

"Alright, rookie, your time's come" said Novus. "Sign out a jump-pack get ready for some on-the-job training."

The entirety of Third Company were packed into Talonflame dropships, which dropped from the underbelly of the Chapter's flagship, _Mew's Legacy_ , and cruised towards the surface of Rendor VII. The ships flew fast, and it wasn't long before more than a hundred Astartes were touching down on the surface. Transport Talonflames dropped off three Rhyhorn APCs and two Predator tanks.

"Alright" said Procidat. "I want Tactical Squads Two, Three and Five to check out those buildings for enemy forces." He indicated the target buildings, the three nearest. "Both Assault Squads, take bikes and speeders and patrol the area. Everyone else, we set up a forward operating base here."

"That's us" muttered Novus. He turned to Mentis. "Rookie, in the field, we use numbers. Shipboard, feel free to call me Novus, but here I'm either _One_ or _Sir_. You're our newest recruit, so you'll be _Ten._ Anyway, get over to that speeder, you'll be with me. Two, Six, take the other speeder. The rest of you on bikes, move out!"

Seventh Squad complied with barely a word, rushing over to their vehicles and heading off into the streets of the Forge World. Eighth Squad had already left, while the three chosen Tactical Squads were piling into the Rhyhorns.

As they left, Procidat turned to his troops. "Alright people, we're burning daylight here, let's get-"

He broke off as he heard footsteps coming from the pile of rubble behind the landing zone. "Saepem, search the area" he ordered. The Champion nodded, released his Gallade, and drew his chainsword. The two stepped into the rubble.

And were immediately set upon by a large group of armoured warriors each as large as an Astartes. Saepem fired his bolt pistol into the first one and swung the chainsword. The soldier retaliated with a blade of his own, glowing with psychic energy. Gallade flickered and vanished, reappearing in the midst of the purple-armoured attackers and decapitating two of them with quick, masterful swings of his arm-blades.

"Ambush!" roared Procidat as his men dropped into cover. "Open fire!"

Saepem twisted his foe's blade around, disarming the target and swinging his own chainsword into the figure's neck. It did its unpleasantly gory job, but got caught in the figure's neck bracing. As Saepem tried unsuccessfully to extract his blade, another warrior leapt up, impaling the Company Champion through the chest. Saepem dropped with a gasp. Gallade, meanwhile, was under attack by a group of Sigilyph, slicing through him with deadly air-cutters. The Pokemon quickly joined his master on the floor.

A Malamar fired a Dark Pulse, blasting the Chaplain off his feet. When Procidat glanced round, all he could see was the Chaplain's smoking helmet, the rest of his body nowhere to be found.

He turned again just as one of the Predators exploded, showering his forces with shards of metal. The other Predator had already been disabled. Procidat and his few surviving marines formed a circle, Procidat pulling a heavy bolter from the corpse of a fallen Devestator, and unleashing his Reuniclus. Ordinarily, the Apothecaries would be harvesting the gene-seed from their fallen brothers, but both of the Company's Apothecaries already lay dead, along with the Techmarines.

The purple-armoured warriors advanced on their circle. Marines dropped until Procidat was the only one left. He fired his bolter dry, then drew his pistol, only to suddenly be slammed into a wall, his weapons flying from his hands and his helmet slipping off. As he tried to stand up, he felt a force grabbing his throat.

Reuniclus was firing Thunderbolts at the enemy, electrocuting two or three with each blast. Bolter rounds slammed into him, blowing bits of goop off his body, but they quickly reformed. Reuniclus killed another target before the Malamar from earlier fired another Dark Pulse. Reuniclus fell back.

Procidat gasped as he watched his closest teammate fall. He was pulled up, levitating a few centimetres in the air, just enough for his feet to dangle, as a soldier stepped out in front of the others, an Alakazam at his side.

"How many?" he growled. "How many are you?"

Procidat's eyes widened. Now he recognized the armour. It was the plating of the Originem Mortis. Their mortal enemies were here.

The Originem Mortis was the dedicated Chapter of Mewtwo. Hundreds of years ago, when Procidat had been a mere Scout, a large number of First Crusaders had come to the conclusion that as Mewtwo was more powerful than Mew, they should be worshipping him instead. This event had split the Chapter, and the heretics had very nearly been eradicated by the loyalists, and would have, if Mewtwo himself hadn't shown up and blessed the leader of the heretics with immense psychic powers comparable to his own. Using these powers, the heretics had escaped and fled to Chaos.

Chaos wasn't much accepting of them, either, deriding Mewtwo as a mere creation of humans, a copy. Not a true Chaos God. Mewtwo had responded with a psychic storm powerful enough to temporarily disrupt the Distortion World and put a stop to all Chaos incursions for a few years, then turned renegade. The Originem Mortis now listened only to Mewtwo, and the leader of the heretics, a marine known only as Red.

The marine standing before Procidat was clearly one of Red's direct subordinates, probably in the inner command circle. He repeated the question. "How. Many. Are. You?"

"I… I refuse to tell a heretic!" snarled Procidat. The other soldier sighed and turned to his Pokemon. "Alakazam?"

"Kazam!" replied the yellow creature, his eyes glowing. Procidat's left leg armour sparked, buckled, and then collapsed in on itself, crushing the Brother-Captain's leg. Procidat screamed.

"One… one hundred! Total!" he spluttered.

"And the rest of your Chapter?"

"Five companies" gasped Procidat. "On the ship. The other four… they've been deployed elsewhere…"

"Thank you" said the soldier, nodding to his Pokemon, whose eyes glowed brighter. Procidat's head jerked to one side. His remaining leg stopped thrashing, and his hands, which had been scrabbling at his throat, dropped to his sides. The Alakazam dropped the body to the ground.

"How many here?" asked the soldier. The other Originem Mortis marines were counting the bodies. "Fifty!" called one.

"Fifty to go" said the warrior with a chuckle. "Find them.

 **Did I say one-shot? Ok, maybe it's a little different, then. This story is a multi-shot.**

 **Anyway, yeah, as you can see, English-Latin translator is my friend when I'm trying to think up names, but Mewtwo is the only Chapter I've named with said scheme, mostly it's characters. Originem Mortis is meant to be Origin Death, although I'm sceptical about the accuracy of Google Translate.**

 **The Talonflame dropship is the Thunderhawk, and the Rhyhorn is the Rhino, while I decided to leave the Predators with their original name as they don't have animal-based names.**

 **Totally didn't come up with the squad's number-based naming scheme as an excuse not to think up more names, what are you talking about?**


	3. First Crusaders: Contact

**Still don't own Pokemon or 40K.**

The speeder cruised through the streets of Rendor VII, the two marines in it scanning for hostiles with their Auspex.

"Hold it" said Novus, holding up a hand. Mentis slowed the speeder and turned to his commanding officer. Novus pointed. "There. Bloodbath, looks like. Lots of bodies, mostly Guardsmen. Xatu!"

The bird materialised from the Pokeball and turned to his trainer. "Check that out and report back" Novus ordered. Xatu nodded and swooped towards the pile of bodies. A minute later he returned, nodding.

"It's safe" Novus informed the rookie. "No one in the area. Nonetheless, take your weapon. Come on."

Mentis climbed out of his position in the speeder's driver seat, tossing his own Pokeball to the ground and summoning his Espeon. Novus moved forward first, sweeping the area with his bolter. Xatu stood there, staring into nothingness.

"Your Pokemon not coming with you, sir?" Mentis asked, confused. Novus shook his head. "Xatu's watching into the future. If we're going to be ambushed, we'll have advance warning."

Mentis nodded and walked into the pile of Guardsmen. "Don't see any hostile bodies at all, sir!" he shouted. "Either they took no casualties whatsoever, or those they lost were taken with them."

Novus inspected the bodies, muttering to himself. "Necrons? No, their weapons wouldn't cause this kind of damage. A large amount of them appear to have no external wounds whatsoever, likely killed by mental assaults from the enemy's psychic Pokemon. Necrons don't use psychic types."

He paused. "Hold on. This one appears to have been killed by bolter rounds."

"Bolter rounds?" spluttered Mentis. "Heretic marines, then? Here?"

"It would appear so" nodded Novus. "Stay alert. I'll contact the Brother-Captain." He activated his vox communicator. "Brother-Captain? This is Seventh Squad leader."

Espeon's ears suddenly perked up, and he peered into the shadows of the nearby building. Mentis noticed. "What do you hear?" he asked.

Novus, meanwhile, was still waiting for his answer. "Captain? Captain? Damn. Something must be messing with the vox, or maybe he's just unavailable." He paused. "Ten, what's wrong?"

"Espeon's heard something, sir!" reported Mentis, and that was the moment they heard a screech from Xatu and three massive warriors emerged from the shadows. Each had a Malamar and was holding a particularly nasty-looking chainaxe. Two of them had bolt pistols, the last had a plasma.

The leader swung his chainaxe, slamming into Novus and sending the sergeant to the floor. Mentis brought up his pistol and fired. The bolts slammed into the leader's helmet, detonating and dropping him.

The second one raised his own pistol, and received a heavy blast of a Zap Cannon to the chest, ripping straight through armour, flesh and bone. Xatu unleashed an Air Cutter, taking down one of the Malamar, as Espeon fired a Signal Beam that struck a second down. Mentis activated his jump-pack and thrust forward with his chainsword held out in front of him, ramming the last enemy into the nearest wall, impaling him on the sword. Mentis turned on the sword and left it chugging away in the chest of his foe as he turned back to face the leader.

The leader had survived the bolt round to the face, but his helmet hadn't. He tore it away, revealing one of the most horrifying things Mentis had ever seen.

The soldier was recognizably human, but only just. His eyes were empty, not literally gone, but pure purple and glowing softly. Also, there were more of them than was normal. The man's face was horribly twisted, enough that he clearly hadn't been scarred like that in a fight. That amount of damage done, even to an Astartes, should have killed him. His mouth was full of pointed teeth, and his ears and nose were missing.

Any normal human would be paralyzed by fear, but Mentis was Astartes. He brought up the pistol as the warrior lunged with his chainaxe.

And stopped, frozen. Xatu was holding the Chaos Marine in place with his psychic powers. A quick twist and the warrior's hand involuntarily opened, dropping the chainaxe to the floor with a clatter. The other Malamar had already been taken down.

Novus pulled himself to his feet, ignoring the gash in his armour as he looked around at the Chaos forces. "Impressive, Ten" he commented. "Two down and one captured." He drew his bolt pistol and levelled it at the survivor's face. "Xatu, release him."

No sooner had the psychic energy around the leader dispersed than Novus squeezed the pistol's trigger several times, blowing the warrior's head to pieces. As the body slumped to the floor, the vox crackled. Novus answered.

"Sir!" came the voice of Three. "Found some bodies, sir!"

"Us too, Three" Novus replied. "And some hostiles. I want the squad to rendezvous with me, got it? Contact them yourself. I need to report to the Brother-Captain."

He switched frequencies. Once again the vox was resolutely silent. "Damn it. Must be unavailable, then. We'd better head back to the FOB. Three-" here he switched back to the squad's channel, "-belay that order, rendezvous at the landing site. And get the other squads over."

He turned to his subordinate. "Alright, Ten, let's move."

Seventh Squad, along with Eighth, Second, and Fifth, stared at the devestation in the FOB. The Talonflames had been destroyed, the Predators were lying in piles of scrap, and bodies lay strewn everywhere. Third Squad had failed to show up.

"Sir!" yelled a Second Squad marine, checking a body. "Gene-seed's been removed, sir!"

The four squad sergeants began conferring. Mentis frowned as he cast an eye over the bodies. No Originem Mortis corpses among them.

The Guardsmen from earlier, maybe, but Mentis didn't believe the fifty Astartes could have been slaughtered like this without taking a single one of their attackers down with them. Evidently they'd been removed.

"Alright!" said Novus, breaking away from the other sergeants. "We've decided what to do. We find Third Squad, then we get to the nearest hanger and take whatever we can find to get back to the ship, then we come back with reinforcements. Everyone, move out!"

The forty marines boarded their various vehicles and headed off in the direction of the building Third Squad had been investigating, not realizing they were being watched by a hulking figure with an Alakazam.

 **Alright, another big shout out to Maxattack890 and Lolface390 for their help with the 40K lore.**


	4. First Crusaders: On The Way Out

**I own neither, as per usual. Honestly, I'm just saying this to be on the safe side, don't know if I have to do it absolutely every chapter.**

The four squads unloaded outside the building where Third's Rhyhorn was idling. "Everyone in, and stick together" ordered Novus. "Anyone see anything moving, confirm its identity before you shoot."

The Astartes released a collection of psychic types and progressed into the building. Mentis stayed with Seventh Squad as they walked through the darkened rooms, occasionally spotting an unpleasant body of some civilian or Guardsman, indicating that the Originem Mortis forces had been here. But what of Third Squad?

Suddenly, the vox was alive with chatter. "This is Second!" came a voice. "Engaging multiple hostiles! We're-" The voice was cut off with a sickening snap. Novus chucked another of his Pokeballs. "Bronzong, find them!"

The steel bell floated away into the darkness, using Flash to illuminate its way. As it went off, it illuminated an area covered in thick red liquid.

"Wait, Bronzong!" barked Novus. The Pokemon stopped. Seventh Squad approached the puddle of blood.

"That's Third, all right" muttered Mentis, staring at the corpses of three Tactical Marines. "Where are the rest of them?"

"Well… it's no good looking for them, clearly" Novus said. "Alright, everyone, retreat. Head back to the vehicles. It's too dangerous in here."

"This is Eighth!" another voice screamed from the vox. This was extremely unnatural. Astartes did not fear anything. What could the Originem Mortis forces have to cause so much panic? "We're under attack. Requesting immediate backup!" Followed by several gunshots, then static.

"Damn it…" growled Novus. "Bronzong?"

"Zong!" the bell responded, floating back to his master.

"Cover us" Novus ordered. Bronzong brought up the rear as the squad retreated back to their vehicles.

A body dropped from the ceiling. Another member of Third Squad, with a rather unfortunate lack of head or right arm. The squad shifted their bolters up as a pair of Originem Mortis marines leapt down, one of them swinging a chainaxe which decapitated Five in a single blow. The other was accompanied by a graceful-looking Gothitelle, who brought up her arm. Eight stopped firing his bolt pistol and began lifting the weapon towards his own head.

Bronzong fired a Flash Cannon at the Gothitelle, but it was no good. Eight brought his pistol to his head and fired. As the body dropped to the floor, Novus cleaved one of the marines in half with his chainsword and yelled at his squad to focus their fire. Another Flash Cannon from Bronzong-this one aimed at the Gothitelle's trainer-did the trick, vaporizing the marine where he stood and allowing the squad to down the psychic Pokemon.

As soon as the eight survivors had made it into the daylight, they were on their bikes and heading away from the building. Fifth Squad had made it out as well, and were already speeding away on their Rhyhorn. The other squads had not reappeared.

"Over there!" said Mentis a few minutes later. Novus looked and saw a large force of Imperial Guardsmen fighting a group of Originem Mortis marines-or rather, being slaughtered. He swung the landspeeder around. "Fire!"

The four surviving bikers of Seventh raced towards the furious melee, as the two landspeeders opened fire with their heavy bolters, tearing the enemy apart.

"Halt" Novus held up a fist and dismounted from the speeder. Mentis kept the engine running, all the same. "Guardsman!" he called to the nearest officer.

"S-Sire…" stammered the Guardsman. He got down on one knee. "Praise Arceus. Thank you. You saved us."

"You're welcome, Guardsman" Novus cut him off. "But praise won't win this war. Where's your commanding officer?"

The Guardsman pointed at a flayed corpse a few meters away. A Crobat was flying above the body, occasionally flying closer and nudging it as if hoping it would wake up.

"Right" frowned Novus. "In that case, you'll have to tell us, where's the nearest aircraft depot?"

The Guardsman pointed at a building in the distance. "There, sir, but it's been taken over by the enemy. Nightshade Company assaulted it, trying to recapture it, and we haven't heard from them since."

"A minor problem for us" Novus declared. "Put your faith in our lord Mew that we will succeed. Gather your men, Corporal."

"S-sire?" asked the Guardsman. "I'm sorry, but you're mistaken. I'm a mere private."

"Not any more, Corporal. Gather your surviving forces. We're getting off this planet, and coming back with reinforcements, and to do that, we need to take that depot."

"Sire!" The Guardsman snapped a salute and went to marshal his forces. Novus turned to the rest of the eighteen-strong group of Marine survivors. "Alright, everyone. Check your weapons, make sure you and your Pokemon are fed and rested, and prepare to take that depot."

 **Sorry this one's short… had a lot of work to do this week. Should be one more chapter on this arc, then after that I can't promise regular updates for a while. Sad face.**

 **Happy face, though, I have a new member of the Advisory Council of This Story. Welcome Iron4, also of Spacebattles.**


	5. First Crusaders: Fires of War

**Do I own Pokemon? No. Do I own Warhammer? No. Clear?**

The Originem Mortis marines on guard outside the Imperial Guard airbase saw the approaching Rhyhorn and lifted their bolters. Five of them approached warily. The Rhyhorn stopped just in front of the airbase.

"What do we do?" asked one.

"Beheeyem!" ordered another. "Crack it open!"

The alien Pokemon lifted its arms and directed them at the Rhyhorn. With a screech of metal, the door folded back and ripped off.

Revealing the several tons of demolition charges the Imperial Guard had loaded into it beforehand.

"OH SH-" one of them began before the Rhyhorn detonated. The blast wiped out the entire squad of Mortis marines, save the Beheeyem and his trainer, who flickered and vanished before reappearing back at the base.

"CHARGE!" roared the newly-appointed Corporal, and a swarm of Zubat and Golbat swooped towards the defenders as the Guardsmen began to close the distance, opening fire.

The massive flock of bats descended on the airbase, making it resemble nothing less than a casual stroll through Mt. Moon without repels, and immediately began their work. The bats began tearing through the Mortis marines with their powerful jaws, whilst the Imperial Guard unit was opening fire with lasguns.

Caught off guard by the suddenness-and more importantly, brazenness-of the attack, the renegade Marines' initial response was slow and disorganized. However, once they'd got their bearings, the Guard was in a tough spot. Blasts of psychic energy took down several bats in a single shot, and bolters began chewing up the infantry. It was definitely time for the First Crusaders to step in. Attacking, of course, from behind.

The eight Assault Marines rocketed into the air, while the Tactical Marines charged forward, their Pokemon at their side. Bolters began flashing as the Assault Marines landed on the upper levels and spread out, releasing their Pokemon.

Mentis rushed along a raised catwalk, firing his bolt pistol at the four Mortis marines stationed there, manning a heavy bolter. The first one fell before the others turned, abandoning the weapon.

"Espeon!" Mentis shouted. The psychic cat nodded, opened his mouth, and fired a Zap Cannon. The crackling ball of electricity impacted one of the enemy soldiers full in the chest, setting him alight.

The remaining two brought up their bolters and fired, ignoring the screams of their companion. A glancing blow struck Espeon, knocking the Pokemon back. Mentis stepped back as the soldiers aimed at him.

Suddenly, two more Assault Marines dropped in, as if from nowhere. Having seen their battle-brother's predicament, they'd rushed to help, using their chainswords to great effect at mincing the enemy forces.

"Thanks" Mentis nodded at his allies, then rushed to check his Pokemon. "Espeon, you okay?" He pulled out a potion and sprayed it on the psychic type.

"Esp!" the cat replied, shaking itself. Despite the situation at hand, Mentis couldn't help but grin. "Great. Come on."

The Imperial Guard had almost all fallen by the time the marines had regrouped, and three more marines had gone with them. "Alright, everyone" announced Novus. "We need to get on board those Valkyries. It'll take two to hold all of us."

The marines nodded and headed in the direction of the vehicles, firing and directing their team as they went. It was going well until one of them was practically twisted in half by a wave of psychic energy. An armoured figure stepped from the shadows with an Alakazam at his side.

"You two, with me!" Novus ordered, pointing at two members of his squad. "The rest of you, go! We'll handle this!"

The figure with the Alakazam lifted a bloody chainaxe and charged. Novus and his men drew their chainswords, parrying the blow. "Xatu!" Novus roared. The bird squawked and dived on Alakazam, slicing the moustachioed psyker with his wings.

Mentis and the other eleven marines rushed towards the landing pads. Crossfire from the upper levels took down two of them almost before they'd started, but once one of them had a Swoobat in the air covering them from above, they made good progress. Nonetheless, by the time they'd made it to the airpad, they'd been whittled down to four.

The marines boarded the Valkyrie transport, and took off. "Swing us around!" Mentis suggested as he recalled his partner. "Go back and get the others!"

The pilot nodded as he fought with the controls, unfamiliar with the new aircraft.

His Alakazam was down, and the Mortis captain was struggling. The chainaxe had fallen from his hand and his helmet had been lost, revealing the hideous mutations he had suffered as a part of Mewtwo's flawed cloning techniques. The three Astartes advanced.

"Mewtwo help me…" the captain muttered. One of the Astartes stepped forward, chainsword in hand, ready to deal the death blow… and was consumed by a blast of flame.

Novus flinched, holding up a hand. The torrent of fire was intense, and went on for a good ten seconds. When it finally died, there were only ashes where the marine had stood.

A man stepped out of the shadows. He carried neither gun nor sword, and his helmet was off, revealing none of the deformities common to his troops. Despite this, he was, in his own way, even more terrifying. His eyes were cold, and his mouth resolutely shut.

The Valkyrie soared overhead and opened its doors. "Sir!" shouted Mentis. "Come on!"

Novus looked up at the Valkyrie. Then he looked back at the new arrival. A draconic Pokemon with a burning tail had just landed next to him. He could tell that the Valkyrie wouldn't have a chance to escape if the Charizard went after it.

"Go!" he shouted. Mentis frowned. "But, sir-"

"That's an order!" Novus turned back to face his new adversary. The other surviving Astartes lifted his bolt pistol and fired at the man's head. The figure didn't move or flinch, and in a flash another Pokemon-a Snorlax-had appeared from a Pokeball, taking the bolt rather contentedly. Before the Astartes could fire again, Charizard was upon him, ripping the screaming warrior apart and carving through armour, flesh and bone with its fangs.

The Valkyrie took off. "Xatu, Bronzong, cover them!" Novus barked. The psychic bird launched himself at Charizard, whilst the bell unleashed a psywave. Neither did much to the dragon, but it was enough. The Valkyrie pulled away.

Xatu screeched as a bolt of electricity tore through him, setting his feathers alight. The smoking bird plummeted as a Jolteon leapt from behind the Snorlax, which the trainer then recalled. Charizard opened his maw and fired another burst of flame at Bronzong. The steel-type's Heatproof ability did nothing against the empowered Flamethrower, melting straight through even the toughest armour.

Novus charged forward, speeding towards the trainer with his chainsword outstretched. The man's mouth finally moved, twitching upwards in a grin as he held out an outstretched hand. He allowed Novus to get within a meter of him before he clenched it into a fist, signalling to his Pokemon. Charizard was on the Brother-Sergeant before he'd made another step, grabbing the soldier by the neck in one clawed hand and casually breaking the chainsword with the other.

Novus felt the claws dig into his neck. He struggled, but to no avail, then glanced up at the Valkyrie. He could tell that they had escaped, and for an instant, felt relief. Then it was gone and he was back to fighting, spitting defiantly at Charizard. Even the acidic chemicals in said spit did little to the brutal dragon, except irritate it and make it finally decide it had had enough fun. The only mercy Novus got was that Charizard chose to tear out his throat first.

The Valkyrie was successfully picked up by the _Mew's Legacy._ Mentis explained what had happened to the Chapter Master, who immediately acknowledged that Rendor VII had fallen. With not enough strength to take the planet back, they'd been forced to call on the Temporal Shields.

Mentis watched, solemnly, as the _Sundial_ fired a beam at the planet, which began to turn grey. In minutes, the entire planet was caught in a perpetual time-stop. That way it would remain, until the forces could be mustered to retake it.

Third Company had been lost. A hundred members had landed on the planet, four had made it out of the atmosphere. The rebuilding work for the Chapter would take years. In fact, the survivors had been reassigned to Fourth, with Third being rebuilt entirely from scratch.

Over the years, Mentis would know many other marines who died, sometimes to save the life of himself and others, but he'd never forget Novus's sacrifice.

 **Ends… weakly, I thought. Give me a break, I wanted this done for today. So, yes, As I warned last time, I can't promise a steady stream of updates for this story any more. I have school and other things, which kinda hinder the creative writing process.**

 **I'd hope to update when possible, but I can't promise regular Sundays, is what I'm trying to say.**


	6. Nightmare Guard: Plots and Schemes

**New arc of stuff, not that I own it.**

The messy remains of what had once been a Tau Fire Warrior slid to the ground, a chainaxe still buzzing in… could it really be called a chest anymore?

Parvam, Chaos Marine of the Nightmare Guard, pulled the growling weapon from the ruined body as the rest of the Tau line began to break. A Sharpedo tank exploded in a ball of fire, Chaos Land Raiders advancing through the enemy firepower with little problem. Parvam chuckled as his own Pokemon, a Mightyena, leapt onto another Fire Warrior, gutting the unfortunate Tau with a Crunch.

This particular cadre of Tau were well known to the Nightmare Guard, and preferred using Magnezone's line in combat, the Pokemon's strong collection of resistances making for a highly defensive force, and their melee combat aspect was better than most Tau forces due to the higher than usual composition of Kroot in their army. However, it was nothing the Nightmare Guard couldn't handle.

The Tau forces were in full retreat at this point, the Nightmare Guard giving chase. They never stood a chance. Before long, the faster elements of the Nightmare Guard attack-bikes, speeders and Raptors-had reached their targets for some more close-up butchery.

Of course, that was what the Nightmare Guard loved doing. Not the butchery itself, that was more Giratina's thing. It was the sheer elation of causing terror. The Guard never considered a battle a success unless some of the enemy lived long enough to attempt a futile retreat.

Parvam spotted another Tau, leaving a trail of blue behind him as he crawled away on a ruined leg. In two strides the Chaos Marine was in front of him. He aimed his bolter down… and paused, waiting.

The Tau began to babble in his own language, which could have been defiant insults, if Parvam couldn't smell the xenos' fear. As it was, it was clearly a beg for mercy. Exactly what he'd been hoping for. He clicked his fingers, and the Dark hyena was on the Tau, ripping him apart.

Parvam looked up to see his fellow soldiers… well, the Astartes he shared a Warband with, at any rate… slicing their way through the last survivors of the panicking Tau. As the last blue-skinned Fire Warrior dropped to the ground, the Nightmare Guard began their pickup.

The planet wasn't important, of course. Now that they'd destroyed all the military presence there, the Guard were heading back to their ships, which would engulf the survivors in an endless nightmare. Something Darkrai was more than happy to do straight away if he hadn't wanted his troops to… stretch their legs a bit.

As the Nightmare Guard dropships left the planet's surface, the huge flagship, _Night Terror_ , fired. The unfortunate Tau world was covered in darkness in mere hours, and the Nightmare Guard fleet engaged their drives and returned to Ultra Space, cruising towards Darkrai's dimension. Once they'd reached their home, the marines spilled out, heading to their temples to pray to the Lord of Nightmares, throwing their offerings to the ground. Tau weaponry, mostly.

Most Chaos legends-Giratina was particularly guilty of this-would like nothing more than a nice collection of enemy corpses offered up to them after their victories. Darkrai was a little more picky. To him, corpses were just a waste of space on the transport. It was the weaponry that really mattered.

Every Chaos legend liked to think that they were the greatest, and most powerful. Once again, Darkrai was the exception. He was well aware that he was merely the second strongest, and even then it was owed solely to his skills at manipulation. Giratina was above him as the most powerful legend of Chaos, something Darkrai aimed to change. His recent expeditions, giving his troops training and extra equipment, saw to that.

He needed some more recruits, though. Of course, it would be a very long-term plan to take over from Giratina, but every addition to his forces helped, and he'd recently learned of a chapter of loyalist Marines being stationed at a nearby world. Better yet, they were a psychic chapter, easy prey for the Nightmare Guard. That would result in a lot more equipment, and hopefully, some extra forces devoted to him.

Darkrai chuckled as he watched his Marines falling into their daily routines of praying to him and fighting each other, in whatever order they so chose. He would let them rest for now, then later, they would head out. The Dream Warriors would never know what hit them.

Of course, 'rest' wasn't exactly the forte of Chaos Marines in general. They tended to either brawl or scheme against each other when they didn't have anything else to do, and speaking personally, Darkrai tended to reward the schemers.

The Marines were indeed brawling or scheming, as well as praying or setting their Pokemon on the few remaining Tau prisoners, but when Darkrai manifested himself, every head turned. No one was going to ignore Darkrai's announcement. Ten thousand years ago, when the Chapter had first fell, there were some dissenters who'd rather do their own thing than listen to their lord. They were still alive now, of course, probably wishing they weren't.

"Attention, warriors!" the Nightmare Pokemon announced. A bit grandiose, but it got their attention, and that's what mattered. "I have located another target for you! It is a Fortress World of the Imperium. Millions of Guardsmen are stationed there, but they do not matter. What matters is the Astartes."

Mumbles from the assembled warriors. Some of them were eagerly revving their chainaxes. Darkrai shot a glare in the general direction of the buzzing axes and they fell silent almost instantly. He continued. "The forces stationed there belong to Cresselia. They will pose little threat to us. Psychic types are helpless against Dark. Make ready, my warriors. Rest and prepare yourselves well. In a few days, we move out. And then, all on the planet shall die."

Cheers from the troops, who then headed off in small groups or alone to get ready for the coming battle. Darkrai chuckled and headed off to inspect the Ultra Space ships.

There was one thing he hadn't told his forces. The Dream Warriors were stationed there, for sure, but so was Cresselia herself. That was what Darkrai was looking forward to most of all. He had a score to settle.

 **Ok, finally back for another multi-parter with everyone's favourite magnificent bastard who I'm envisioning as the ROUGH equivalent of Tzeentch, at least as far as the 'maker of plots' goes, not so much the 'user of psykers' bit.**

 **I envision a lot of pain for Cresselia in future.**


	7. Nightmare Guard: A Detour

**Don't own.**

Sergeant Mordai Rekland yawned as he pulled himself off his bed. He lit his hondew-leaf tube and casually glanced out the window of his small barracks.

His mouth dropped open. The hondew-leaf tube dropped to the floor. Sergeant Rekland didn't even bother to grind the embers out, bellowing at the other nine soldiers who he shared the barracks with. He snatched up his lasgun as the rest of the squad got up.

"What's up, Sarge?" asked one of the squad sleepily.

"Shut up, get your weapons" snapped Rekland. He grabbed his Pokeball and opened it, releasing a tough-looking grass turtle with bushes on its back.

"Grotle, get ready" he said. The Pokemon nodded at its trainer. Another soldier raised a hand. "Sorry, Sarge, but we need to know. What's going on?"

In response, Rekland briefly pointed out the window and then returned to preparing for the coming battle. The other squad members rushed to the window.

"Dear Arceus…" one of them muttered.

Outside, an army of Nightmare Guard soldiers approached. Imperial Guardsmen rushed out of various buildings, a lot of them still half-asleep. The commissar attached to this particular unit was screaming orders as Blastoise tanks swivelled their gun barrels to face the charging Chaos troops. The regiment leader's Torterra lumbered forward and bellowed a challenge.

Bolts began to fly through the air, and laser blasts to meet them. The Torterra roared again and stamped down on the floor, and plants burst from the ground, engulfing heretic Astartes and tearing them apart.

But for every warrior the Frenzy Plant attack killed, there were hundreds to take his place. Lasguns fired and Razor Leaves began to sing through the air towards the oncoming army, many bouncing off armour plating, while a lucky few managed to hit softer points and cause death, or at least temporary incapacitation. Hails of bolter fire from the Chaos Land Raiders took out many of the Blastoise tanks before they could do much. It didn't take long before the Nightmare Guard was upon the Guardsman base.

The lieutenant was barking orders until he screamed in terror as a Spiritomb manifested itself in front of him. Sergeant Rekland didn't actually see what happened, but as the bloodied lieutenant's helmet soared past him, he had a pretty shrewd idea.

And, of course, once the screams had started, they didn't stop. As was the usual M.O. of the Nightmare Guard, the standard shot was to horribly wound rather than to kill, something that was admittedly tricky with a bolter, which brought up the disturbing possibility that they'd been modified specifically for that purpose.

The commissar's new position as ranking officer lasted approximately thirty seconds, in which time he got off precisely one bolt from his pistol before a Bisharp had planted its elbow-blade through his chest. Rekland's Grotle lashed a vine at the dark-steel type, but the Bisharp ignored it in favour of adding the commissar to the growing pool of red on the ground.

Rekland turned to his squad, who were taking up cover positions and firing at basically anything that moved. It was abundantly clear by now that there was nothing to be gained from holding the line here. They were only a small regiment, and the Guard tended to be good for taking down foes only in massive numbers. Ten-to-one for the Guard was shaky, so ten-to-one against was suicide. Of course, the standard procedure for retreating involved: one, you fall back; two, you receive a bolt round to the skull; three, the rest of the regiment decides it's better to keep fighting than face the commissar. But in this case, the commissar was already an unpleasant smear on the ground, and Rekland was one of the few equal-ranking sergeants still alive. It was his decision.

"Grotle, return!" he yelled. "Squad, we're pulling back. Nothing more we can do here."

"But sir-" one of them protested. Rekland interrupted him with a glare.

"You want to stay here and get chainaxed? Be my guest. But we need numbers, we need to warn the capital, and we need Astartes. There are two Blitzles out the back. Come on!"

The Guardsmen looked at each other, briefly weighing up whether execution back at the capital would be worse than being slowly and painfully murdered by the Nightmare Guard, then promptly abandoned their positions, recalling their Turtwigs and following their sergeant.

"Arceus save us, Arceus save us, Arceus save us…" muttered one of the squad, the youngest member, and most superstitious. Rekland could tell right away that PTSD treatment was in order if they lived. Perhaps aromatherapy with a Meganium… where he could smoke his pipe and relax. His superiors would forgive him for retreating when his warning of the approaching Chaos forces saved the capital city, once the Astartes had cleaned them all up.

As a career soldier, Rekland was well aware that this was wishful thinking, but he also realised that it helped draw his mind from the things chasing him, and once you forgot what you were running from, and what would happen if you failed to run fast enough, you could concentrate solely on the actual act of running away.

The squad reached the Blitzles and mounted up. The engines chugged into life and the vehicles pulled away from the ruined barracks. Or, at least, they started. They didn't get far before the back of one of them exploded.

"Sarge, go!" yelled one of the Guardsmen as a Chaos attack bike stopped in front of them, a huge armoured figure dismounting, releasing a Mightyena and switching on a chainaxe. Rekland didn't need to be told twice. If they all died, there was no hope of warning anyone. He gunned the engine and left.

Parvam shrugged as he swung the chainaxe through the first Guardsman's leg, ignoring the lasgun blasts that failed to penetrate his armour. Sure, the others had got away, but what did that matter, really?

Mightyena clamped down on the second Guardsman's chest with his mouth, tearing flesh.

Sure, ambushes had their merit, but sometimes it was more fun to let the enemy get some fortifications ready. He chopped another Guardsman's arm off, not really paying attention as he imagined the oncoming bloodshed. It felt so good to watch an army scrabbling to try and escape, pushing past their own fortifications as the front line broke first and fell back to the reserve…

Suffice it to say, the Nightmare Guard had some _very_ odd tastes.

Leaving Mightyena to feast on the bodies, Parvam peered at the retreating Blitzle. His improved eyesight allowed him to pick out the driver, who he could tell was also the sergeant. He memorised the man's face and swore that, in the coming battle, he'd strike the killing blow.

 **How many villain victories are we expecting before the fic is done, amiright? Rekland's name was contributed by one of my consultants, who assures me it was NOT intentionally death-y. Anyway, this arc should have maybe one or two more chapters, then we get a special intermission.**


End file.
